JERUSALEM: A Syrian rebel fighter taken to a hospital in neighbouring Israel for treatment died of his wounds yesterday, doctors said. The Syrian had been shot in the head, sought medical help on the southern border with Israel and was taken to hospital in the town of Nahariya, along with another seriously wounded fighter, Israeli public radio quoted medics as saying.
Five other Syrians seeking medical aid at the border in the Golan Heights were treated on the spot by Israeli medics and were sent back. In the past month, 11 Syrian fighters have been treated in Israel. Eight of those were repatriated and three have remained in the country for further treatment, including Wednesday’s casualty.
Israel controls some 1,200 sq km of the strategic Golan Heights, after gains made during the 1967 Arab-Israeli Six Day War, while around 510 sq km remain in Syrian hands. Rebels engaged in a civil war against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad seized a 25km strip of land stretching from the Jordan border to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a watchdog said on Sunday.
Kurds help Shia, Sunni fighters negotiate
BEIRUT: Syrian Kurds in the northern province of Aleppo have helped Sunni rebel fighters negotiate a settlement with Shia residents in two flashpoint villages, a monitoring group said.
Sunni “rebels and Shia fighters from the popular committees of Zahraa and Nabul have entered into talks, several months into a siege by insurgents of the two villages,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.AFP
